


From The Land of Ice and Snow

by MoonTickler



Category: That '70s Show
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Mush, Jackie x Steven, Kissing, One Shot, That 70s Show - Freeform, fluff with plot, jackie burkhart x steven hyde, that '70s show - Freeform, zen masters, zenmasters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:00:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23084395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonTickler/pseuds/MoonTickler
Summary: Blizzards in the Midwest suck at the best of times, but never as much as when Hyde and Jackie get stranded in the Vista Cruiser together, and they're forced to confess their feelings for one another, which may or may not have to do with the first kiss that neither would confess they felt anything during. Jackie x Hyde, minor mentions of Eric x Donna. Fluff with plot, vague setting.
Relationships: Eric Forman/Donna Pinciotti, Jackie Burkhart/Steven Hyde
Comments: 11
Kudos: 169





	From The Land of Ice and Snow

“Steven, just put the gloves on.”

“Screw your gloves, man. Don’t want ‘em, don’t need ‘em.” Hyde rolled his eyes from the driver side of the Vista Cruiser, trying to ignore his bone-white knuckles and instead focus his irritation into something distracting, like not arguing with Jackie. The road was proving itself a challenge, twisting aggressively where it could be seen through thick patches of snow. 

“Steven, everyone should have a pair of Vivienne Westwood gloves! Leather will never go out of style.”

“Leather was meant for boots and biker vests. Preferably with Zeppelin patches on the back of them.” Out of the corner of his eye, Hyde saw Jackie open her mouth to argue, and swiftly cut her off. “Besides, those gloves wouldn’t fit me.”

“These gloves are fur-lined, they have plenty of give to them! Look-” Jackie gestured a manicured hand at him, “Your fingers are turning blue!”

“Jackie, they are not turning blue,” Hyde insisted. He wouldn’t admit that he could feel the skin pulling taught in the chill air. “Just because Foreman’s a dumbass and didn’t fix the heater doesn’t mean I’m freezing.” 

Eric also neglected to tell them that the engine was experiencing issues. Hyde twitched with every hitch and sputter. It wasn’t like Foreman to be completely careless with the car, but then, a lot was on his mind lately. Living in a capitalist society would do that to a guy…  
So would dating. 

Hyde turned the car at Jackie’s direction, and tried to drown the sound of her chattering. “Why would Eric be so stupid? Taking a bus to see Donna at her radio station signing is just so styless! How does he expect to show her romance when he can’t even-”

Oh god, he kept trying to remind himself not to listen. It was bad enough that Foreman ran off before the biggest predicted snowstorm of the season to visit Donna, but then he had the gall to ask Hyde to pick them up, because Red couldn’t know that he’d snuck off. And just when Hyde didn’t think things could get any more convoluted, Jackie demanded to come with him, anticipating the trip might bring her into contact with scouts looking for model-grade talent. Needless to say, he didn’t see the appeal.

That was the trouble with friends, though: they knew how to pull you in. Foreman knew from years of friendship that Hyde had some very deeply hidden fragment of a conscience that would nag him until he knew both he and Donna were safe. And Jackie knew- from years of exploiting people- that men would do what she wanted if she was just persuasive enough. And by persuasive, he meant talkative. 

“Jackie, can you pipe down? I can’t exactly pay attention to you and the road at the same time,” he grunted.

Despite his admonishment, Hyde wasn’t exactly disappointed that she insisted on coming with him. Although she vapidly prattled on at him the entirety of the car ride thus far, her company was familiar. Ignoring her gave him something to do other than be alone with his thoughts about Foreman and Donna, and he appreciated the distraction. Even if it meant something she said actually slipped into his awareness once in awhile. 

Jackie sighed, and from the sound of it she was rolling her eyes too. Hyde realized he might actually be rousing himself to attention when she spoke. “Steven, despite what people say, I don’t always speak to be heard.”

“Oh, really?” Now that was a surprise. 

“Yeah! Sometimes, I just need to hear myself think. And saying things out loud helps me do just that, because who wouldn’t want to listen to the sound of my voice?”

Hyde groaned, tightening his grip on the wheel and adjusting himself in the seat of the cruiser. The faux leather was tightening beneath him with the cold, and he shimmied further into it. He squinted through his shades as a sign approached, signaling the fifteen-mile marker outside of their destination was a little podunk blip on the map.

Although his eyes remained on the road, in the back of his mind, Hyde noted that Jackie momentarily quieted. In the corner of his eye, he saw her watch the grey, smudged forms of buildings slide slowly past them. He wondered, totally involuntarily, what she was thinking. Hyde checked himself. He wasn’t supposed to be legitimately distracted by the distraction- she was meant to be white noise. 

As if sensing the potential for attention, Jackie turned with a flick of her bouncy black hair and proclaimed, “What do you think people do in little towns like these? There aren’t any stores or anything, and everyone’s obviously poor- look at their houses! I mean, why wouldn’t you move away to some place with more money?”

“Because moving requires money, dipshit. Everything does.” Hyde growled. It was a little more blunt than he wanted to admit, but Jackie’s willful ignorance towards just about everything to do with the sphere of the world beyond high school popularity was like taking a hot poker repeatedly to the head. 

“Exactly! These people? They’re poor! They don’t get opportunities to wear Vivienne Westwood gloves, Steven!” 

My god, she was making a rounded argument. “Screw the damn gloves, man! I need to concentrate!”

Jackie quieted, sitting back with her gloves squeezed in her small hand. Hyde was too on edge to enjoy the momentary peace, but her silence persisted. He sat back and let the road unfurl before them. He started to relax. 

And then one of her small hands reached out towards him- for him- encircled in the plush cuff of her sleeve. She was just so soft. Not just in the sense that her life was cushy or that her skin was lotioned, but just that she was a kind of softness. 

Her fingers, tipped with her egg-round, manicured nails, reached him first. He stiffened. Then her palm came up and over his hand, pulling it off the wheel and into her warm lap. After a pause, Jackie began rolling her thumbs over his knuckles, working the blood back into them. She smoothed the cracking skin and massaged the tendons into feeling, and warmth.

“You really ought to take better care of yourself, Steven,” she said, thumbing over his fingers. “I know you don’t think so, but you’re worth caring for.” 

Against his judgement, his breath hitched in his throat. Her insistence at touching him so gently made something in his chest tighten, so much so he couldn’t breathe enough to respond. The silence stretched between them, but even with her touching him, it wasn’t uncomfortable. It was simply peaceful, just the two of them in the car. 

And then the road jutted sharply into a curve. An icy curve with too little road to give any hope of traction. 

Hyde slammed on the breaks. He jammed his foot into the pedal because otherwise, he would have had to deal with what just happened and he would have said something stupid. And in the moment, even as he wrestled with the wheel and the car swung one way and then the other before its own momentum sent it into a spin, he refused to be as candid as Jackie…

Which was easier said than done when both of them were screaming. They slid around the curve, full send, and evened out just quickly enough to slide into a ditch in view of, but thankfully not in the middle of, the road. They stopped with a muted “thump”. 

He was shaking, but that didn’t matter when Jackie gave a sharp gasp. Spinning around had sent them bumping every which way despite the seat belts, and she slid against him the confusion. Hyde gave Jackie a clumsy pat, letting her grip his arm like a vice as they caught their breath. 

“Jackie? You okay?” Hyde prompted. 

\------

Still squeezing Steven’s arm, Jackie pressed a hand to her throat. She opened her mouth and tried to say something, but the world was still spinning. It was hard to think. She didn’t think volunteering herself to accompany Steven on a trip to get Eric and Donna would be so fraught with danger- Wisconsin winters could be bad, but she hadn’t imagined something like this would happen.

“It’s okay,” Steven tried again, “the car’s stopped and we didn’t die. Jackie?”

All at once she was in motion, slapping her gloves against his chest and whirling to face him. “Steven, we’re stranded! We’re all alone in a snowstorm! If you’d just put on the gloves, none of this would have happened!” She almost regretted opening her mouth, but the leftover adrenaline was fueling her need to be right. That was what she got for trying to be nice, for thinking that it was better that Hyde wasn’t alone with his thoughts as he went to pick up their friends. She knew that he’d had feelings for Donna in the past. She also knew that dwelling on feelings like that, all alone, only to then have his affection thrown back in his face when he saw them, also wasn’t fun. He didn’t deserve to go through that all alone. 

His face contorted behind his shades in disbelief. “Are you kidding me? It’s the damn gloves that started this whole mess! I was driving just fine until you started trying to foist those on me!”

“We are going to freeze to death in this car! I can’t believe Eric couldn’t fix the stupid heat, and you can’t admit that your hands are chapped, because you don’t use moisturizer, and you don’t. WEAR. GLOVES!” It really did baffle Jackie that Hyde could care so little for his appearance that his actual health suffered. Even if he didn’t have high self-esteem, he didn’t have to go through pain just to prove a point. 

Instead of leaping to defend himself with a sarcastic statement or even a counterargument, Steven turned resolutely from her and went to restart the car. 

“You can’t just not talk to me the whole rest of the ride there,” she said, more to say something rather than just sit there. She didn’t want him to be mad at her. Steven shot her a look, but turned the key in the ignition. A high whine came in response, and Steven’s face went pale. He reinserted the key and turned it. The engine whined once more, higher, and then sputtered out in defeat. 

“No, no, no! This piece of junk just died on us, man!” Steven exploded, slamming a pale fist against the steering wheel. 

“God, of course we’d get stranded out in a blizzard! We’re going to freeze to death! I’m going to miss the new episode of Three’s Company!”

“Jackie,” Steven began, turning to her with a stony look of irritation, “we are not going to die. Will you stop wailing and shut your piehole?” 

“Then what are we going to do? It’s too cold without the heater, and no one else knows we’re out here.” Jackie said, sitting back and crossing her arms. 

Steven looked resolutely between her and the driver-side door. “There was a gas station about a half a mile back. I think I saw a payphone on the side.”

“You’re going to walk? In this?” Jackie gestured with a sweep of her puffy coat sleeve. “Steven, you’re going to freeze! You could get frostbite, or get hit!”

“We really don’t have any other options, do we?” Steven tightened his scarf around his neck. “Reach in the back will you- Foreman should have a candle in here.”

“A candle? What for?” Jackie slowly unbuckled and turned in her seat, peering into the dark space of the back half of the Vista Cruiser. She reached around blindly, touching at things she didn’t want to know the identity of in search for something cold and glassy. Who would have a candle in their car in the winter? And would it even be a good one, the kind that was scented and flowery? She doubted it. 

“It’s a survival tactic for bad weather. If you’re ever in a broken down car, something waxy with a light can help you stay warm until help arrives.”

“Steven, I can’t see a thing! Where would Eric keep a candle in here?”

“Keep looking. He’s gotta have it in here, Red would kill him if he knew Foreman was driving around in this weather without a candle!” Jackie felt the seat bow beneath her as Steven leaned past her with a steadying hand on her back and opened the glove compartment. She froze at the contact as she listened to him rummage around for a few moments and then curse. He peered over her to scan the back, not moving his hand away.

“Any luck?” he asked. That snapped Jackie back to reality, and she tipped farther. 

Jackie’s hand closed on something small and waxy, and with a small cry of triumph, she leaned back into her seat, practically landing in Steven’s lap. “I think I found one of those small birthday candles that you put on...”

She opened her hand, but all that was there was a purple crayon wrapped in paper. 

“... a cake…” Jackie’s face fell. Eric had the gall to whine and complain about people eating in the Cruiser, but then he left all this trash around? “What the hell are we supposed to do with a crayon? Write a help message on the windows and pray to God someone sees this atrocious shade of eggplant in the snow?” Jackie cried, lifting her arm to chuck it into the trunk. 

“Jackie wait! It’s not a candle, but it’s still wax and paper. We can burn it while we wait.”

“But Steven, crayons are so smelly! It’s going to stink up the whole car.”

That made him chuckle. “You’re gonna have to suck it up, doll. I have to walk to the phone, and you’ve got to have something to keep you warm. You can’t come tramping after me in the snow.”

Jackie felt her cheeks flush as Steven suddenly leaned towards her, cupping her hand holding the crayon in his. To say his hands were rougher than hers was understatement- they looked like a wood carving compared to a porcelain doll’s. But his hand was warm, and it was large, almost able to cradle her whole hand in his palm. With the other, he tipped his lighter between them and lit the crayon’s wrapper, letting the flame flutter against the paper. They held their breaths, and it caught. 

“That’s genius, even if it does reek,” Jackie murmured, looking up into Steven’s face sheepishly. Above the rim of his glasses, his eyes glinted in the light, somewhere between periwinkle and cerulean. Her breath hitched before she realized it, and Steven looked away hastily. 

“Alright, now don’t burn yourself. And make sure it stays lit,” he said as he leaned back, much to Jackie’s disappointment. He tried to hand the lighter to her.

Jackie shook her head and pressed it back into his palm. “No- no- take the lighter with you. If I have this then I’ll be fine in the car. But you’ll have nothing out there.”

“Okay. I’ll take the lighter. I’m going back to the gas station. If I don’t make it back, tell Foreman and the others to play Stairway to Heaven at my funeral.” Steven slid to the driver’s side door and took hold of the handle, staring ahead a moment as if bracing himself for the bitter cold. 

“Don’t even joke!”

“Actually, better make it Immigrant Song.” His other hand tightened around one side of the scarf around his neck, one that Kitty had knitted him last Christmas. Jackie noted that even if it was obnoxiously colored, she was glad that someone else cared enough about Steven to give him something warm. 

Jackie watched Steven trudge away through the snow, sticking to the side of the road as much as possible to stay away from any other cars that might be coming through. Fat chance of that happening. They must be the only ones stupid enough to venture out into the storm. 

It was hard to look away, even after he faded from view, but Jackie was getting cold. So she set the crayon on the dashboard, taking her gum from her mouth and sticking it to the bottom to hold it in place. She then turned towards the back seat of the cruiser and grabbed the checkered blanket tucked away in the back. She didn’t want to think about what happened under or on top of the blanket, but at least it would distract her from worrying about Steven, all alone, in the snow. 

Jackie crossed her arms. She was not going to worry about Steven. She was going to focus on keeping warm, and on how in the world to maintain her skin’s lustre in this kind of weather without moisturizer. As soon as they got home, she was going to put this whole thing behind her with a nice, long soak in the tub. So she began her strategy, picking over her nails and worrying about Steven as she ran through her list. 

“Godammit!” 

\------

Hyde leaned further into the phone booth to get away from the wind. He was already having a hard time trying to catch his breath without being cooped up and cold. He reached the phone a little under ten minutes ago, and his conversation with Red went about as expected: a lot of cursing at Eric, a lot of annoyance at Donna, and one very steady assurance that he would come and get them. Hyde also suspected that Kitty would send them a thermos full of soup if she herself did not come along. The thought kept him bolstered. And distracted.

The call was done, but the booth was a welcome respite (if one could call a very narrow space such a thing) from the biting wind and ice. He was thankful, not for the first time, for his thick, curly hair. The glasses also certainly helped, for the snowy world was a little too bright without them, and the risk of catching snowflakes in his eyes was abated. Now he just had to muster enough energy to trek back to Jackie and the cruiser. The legs of his bell bottoms were soaked through, but he knew he couldn’t wait for them to dry. He had to brave the weather… And whatever it was making chest roil when he thought of Jackie. 

As he pushed himself back out into the snow, he rubbed his hands unconsciously at the thought of her holding them again. It was such an un-Jackie thing to do, being so damn… tender. His knuckles still tingled from where she’d run her impossibly soft fingers over them. He knew she was capable of being affectionate, on account of Kelso’s numerous reports of their escapades, but he almost always associated it with her wanting to get something from someone.

How had it come to all this Jackie-talk? When had he started taking sides? Kelso was his (stupid) friend, and Jackie was the (annoying) unwelcome visitor. Of course the universe would make it all about Jackie and anything Jackie-related when he was stranded in a blizzard with no one for company but her. If he had to face freezing to death, could it at least have been a silent passing?

That might be unfair, Hyde thought to himself. Jackie and Kelso’s relationship was not healthy by stretch of the imagination. However, Jackie was not the sole party to blame for its failings, as Kelso blundered, lied, and cheated his way through it. Jackie had her failings, but she was not the worst person, by any means. And if the last part of the drive was any indication, she had a great capacity for gentleness. 

Why she would show it to him, however, he had no idea. 

His methodical crunching through the snow stopped short as Hyde paused. Why would Jackie do that? He could concede she didn’t always act just because she wanted something. But that didn’t give him any insight as to where he fit into the equation. They’d never been terribly close, but they managed to get along for the most part, between the Zen lessons and concerts Jackie tagged along on. 

And there was the date. That one, weird little blip when Hyde had actually admitted to himself that keeping company with Jackie wasn’t the absolute worst. The jackass she brought to the barbecue deserved that punch. And their quiet night out had been the first peaceful moment Hyde shared with her, where she was a little less guarded and bit more thoughtful. She didn’t stop talking about fashion, or cheerleading, or any other vapid topics. But somehow, her conversation topics became a bit more inviting, as something to be debated and thought about, as opposed to the only things she thought worthwhile. It helped that she seemed comfortable in his jacket, and sitting next to him while they looked up at the starry Wisconsin sky. And it was nice. 

They even kissed, which was… also nice. Not that he told her that. Nor had she indicated she felt anything, either. 

The cold was beginning to soak into his pants, so Hyde shook himself from his thoughts and went on his way. But his brows hunched over his shades and he thought, really thought, about the little nagging notion trying to squirm its way to him. 

He didn’t tell Jackie that he thought she looked cute in his jacket, or that he thought their kiss was nice. She hadn’t said anything positive about the kiss, but… It wasn’t out of the question that she might have lied. Jackie wasn’t always forthcoming with her feelings, but… when he thought about the few times she let her guard down around him, when she laughed a little more loudly and looked him in the eye, it was always in spite of his attempts to keep her at arm’s length. Who wouldn’t keep their feelings a secret in that situation?

Hyde stopped dead in his tracks again, a look of alarmed realization scrunching his face. Was that what that whole display in the car had been about? Had Jackie been nursing feelings for him this whole time, and hadn’t said anything, but was trying despite the way he acted? Hyde was so sure back then that she would never go for him, and that it was for the best that they never got together. They were just so different. 

What else could explain Jackie’s strange behavior in the car? Hyde hunched himself further into his jacket, eyes wide and cold behind his glasses. 

What the hell should he do from here? For the moment, he was trapped- he could either go forward or go back. Forward was a car that, while not guaranteed to be warm, at least would prevent him from meeting a cold, icy death in America’s dairyland. Back was the aforementioned perishing. But for now, there was nowhere to go to sort his feelings. He wasn’t sure he could function if he couldn’t do something to figure out how he felt. 

It was with this in mind that he steeled himself as he came back to the car. All of it looked the same as how he left it, not including the extra snow that piled on since he departed. He was just wondering about how quiet it was when Jackie noticed him, and pressed a hand to the glass. 

“Steven! You didn’t freeze to death!” she cried in a muffled yet gleeful tone. 

Despite himself, Hyde smiled a little as he took the handle and opened the door to a very fluffy, very waxy-smelling hug. Jackie practically pulled him out of the wind with her arms around his neck. At least -and he couldn’t believe he was thinking this- she was happy to see him. 

\------

Jackie was right about the waxy smell, but she was too happy to see Steven to care. As soon as she saw him approaching the cruiser, she flung the door open and pulled him into a hug, practically smothering him with the fluffy trim on her coat. 

Against him, relieved that he was safe with her again, Jackie inhaled. Beneath the scent of burning crayon, Steven smelled like the snow storm- like clear, frosty air. And even further, where her face found its way against his neck, he smelled like dryer sheets, and plants…

Well. A plant. 

It occurred to her that she’d been clutching him (and sniffing him, creepy much?), and she released him quickly. Her hands flew to her hair to keep busy, and she began firing questions at him. She couldn’t let him get the wrong idea. 

“Did you talk to Eric’s dad? What did he say? Is he coming to get us?”

Steven, bewildered, nodded. “Red’s coming to get us. Foreman and Donna are busted, but at least we won’t be stranded out here.”

“Well, you did all you could! It’s not your fault Eric thinks keeping an eye on the weather is beneath him!”

Steven arched an eyebrow over his dark glasses at her. Jackie scowled. “Do not give me that look, Steven J. Hyde III! A young lady of my status is always prepared for the weather. Unlike people who don’t even wear gloves.”

Steven groaned loudly, leaning back against the driver side door, and she did the same inwardly. That wasn’t how she wanted to greet him now that he was back. They were two and half hours away from Point Place, and she didn’t want to have to spend it in silence waiting for Red. Cautiously, Jackie peered at him. Steven was fiddling with her gum-to-crayon set up, testing the paper to see how quickly it burned. It wasn’t quite halfway down, but it would surely burn out before Red got there. 

At least they wouldn’t freeze together. The blanket was plenty big enough for the both of them, and if he would just move his legs a little-

Jackie snapped herself from her thoughts. Steven wasn’t a touchy person to begin with, and she wasn’t sure she was close enough to being in his good graces for him to even consider the possibility of, well, holding her. At least the candle was still burning. At least they wouldn’t freeze right this moment. 

“I wish I had some of Red’s tools,” she commented quietly. Something about the very real possibility of Steven not wanting to touch her made her feel a little put-out. What man could resist her when she made a sad face? 

What did worthwhile men want in a woman? Jackie wasn’t so foolish as to think that every man she wanted something from was a decent person. But it did make her wonder how many men she actually liked that were also nice. 

“I lied,” Steven murmured suddenly.

“Lied? About what, Red coming to get us-?” Jackie’s head whipped to look at him.

“No. About way back. When you and me went on that date. And we kissed. I lied.”

Jackie froze. She paused her gloved hands mid-wring, but did not dare look at Steven’s face. Not even the faint flicker of a thought went through her mind, but a part in her chest twisted like an eel. She felt with painful clarity that something thunderous was occurring within her, like water smashing a dam open. 

She was aware, too, that the situation was delicate. Steven was always the equivalent of an unpredictable animal when it came to emotions, because his trust was rarely earned but his ire was dished out uninhibited. But now, more than ever, he was like a stag caught unawares in the trees: vulnerable. And for the first time, Jackie was not a hunter with her mind on a conquest, but rather a person struck by beauty. By want of a different kind, one that forgot materialism and instead honed in on intimacy. 

Noticing that her silence had stretched on possibly too long, Jackie began to panic. If she didn’t say something, the moment would slip through her fingers. Steven would raise the wall between them back up, reinforced with new distrust. But she did not, could not, trust herself to speak. Not when their best moments seemed to be found in the quiet they shared on those rare, tender occasions. 

So instead of opening her mouth, she did what she thought was the next best thing. Huddling clumsily against him, she grabbed the blanket and flung it over their legs. Tentatively, she tucked herself beneath his chin. She felt him tense, his chest stopping mid-breath and his stomach stretching taut against her sudden proximity. Her forehead rested against the soft, warm well of his throat, where she felt his pulse drumming. She held her breath. Jackie hoped Steven got the message. 

\------

Hyde wasn’t panicking. Or so he told himself as he watched realization wash over Jackie’s face. He did not know where the sudden burst of honesty came from- last he checked, he was supposed to be in full possession of his mind and his mouth. He didn’t want to admit that the words tumbled from his lips as the weight of his thoughts closed it. There wasn’t enough energy in the world with which to conceal such a struggle in him, and being honest was something that, while troublesome, was important to him nonetheless. 

A million different possibilities could have occurred, but shocking Jackie into total silence was not what he expected. It scared him, that way she stilled completely like a startled deer, when mostly she had the moods of a storm- gentle rain one moment and hellfire and lightning the next. 

Sick with uncertainty, Hyde almost withdrew to the snow again before Jackie moved. She leaned forward, and not knowing what to expect, he froze just as she had. But instead of yelling, or saying anything really (he might have heard her grunt, but she would flat-out deny she was capable of such a noise), she nestled against him rather ungracefully and wrapped them in a blanket. He felt the warmth of her breath kiss the top of his collarbone, and a chill raced up the stairs of his spine and back down again. 

Slow and deliberate, Hyde let his arm fall around Jackie’s neck. One of his hands cupped the slope of her shoulder, and when he lifted his thumb, an errant black curl of her hair wrapped around it. He stroked at it absently. They hadn’t sat together like this since that weird anomaly of a date, and even then, the air hadn’t been so charged with feeling. 

Or so Hyde once thought. 

“So... what does this mean?” he murmured. Breaking the silence was regrettable, but he had no other way of being sure of what she was telling him. For the first time since he met her, he really had no idea what Jackie was thinking, because she wasn’t yelling it at him or droning on about it. Where did they go from here? Was there a next step?

“I lied too.” she whispered after a long pause. “I lied because… I don’t know. I thought you didn’t think we had a chance.”

“I lied because I thought that you regretted the whole thing. That- whatever it was- was weird as hell,” he found himself conceding. 

“It was! It is!” Jackie exclaimed, sitting up. Her hands came alive, gesturing her way through her thoughts. “I’m used to dating guys that have nice things, or at least want me badly enough to get them! But… you never even gave me a clue. I didn’t even know if you felt anything good towards me because of Kelso. And Eric.”

Hyde relaxed, muscles settling into the seat. Jackie sounded more like normal, immediately self-focused- but there was a wariness to her tone. He caught her eye over the rim of his glasses, and the tips of his fingers found their way around the stray lock of hair that still caught fast to his thumb. He rubbed it, watching her large eyes flick between his fingers and face. He found himself reaching to bring her back to him. “Kelso definitely had a lot to say. But he’s an idiot- he doesn’t know when to shut up.”

“Do you think I’m an idiot?” she asked. She leaned away from his reach, hair trailing with her, and Hyde’s brows furrowed. 

“Jackie, you’re loud, you’re opinionated- you barely let people get a word in edgewise.” he saw her jaw set with steeliness, and hastily continued. “But you also wear your heart on your sleeve. I’ve never been stupid to what you were thinking. Until you were quiet back there. And then I thought… Man, did I think I screwed up.”

“Oh Steven! I didn’t mean to make you think that! I mean, when guys confess their love to me, they usually don’t do it in a smelly car in the middle of nowhere. At least, not if they want something from me. I just panicked when you actually said something, because you don’t ever express yourself-” Jackie slapped a hand across her mouth, doe-eyes wide. “I’m sorry Steven! I must be talking so much right now.”

Hyde just shook his head. Again, he reached an awkward arm for her. But instead of touching or grabbing her, he gave Jackie the chance to resume their earlier position. The whole situation was still rocky, and he moved with great caution. His ribs felt like they were squeezing the air out of his lungs as she leaned into his hands, letting him pull her into his jacket and wrap it around her. With no small feeling of triumph, he allowed himself to rest his lips against her temple. 

The peace was tentative. But peace it was. 

\------

They sat in silence for a bit, Hyde tempted-to-but-not-quite-kissing Jackie’s temple, and Jackie pressing her temple into Hyde’s gentle, chapped mouth. The snow fluttered without cease outside, and the sky was beginning to dim into the bluish shades that signified the late afternoon- and soon the evening- would be upon them. Neither dared speak a word, but Jackie nestled a little further into Hyde’s chest at the sound of the wind rattling the car, and Hyde held her a little tighter against him. 

Although Jackie dated plenty of guys before (besides Steven, who wasn’t knocking down the door to get a date with her?), she was unaccustomed to someone who wasn’t constantly pawing at her. Most of her dates, Kelso the most recent in memory, seemed to always be grabbing or squeezing her some way, as if she wouldn’t notice their overzealous interest. 

But Hyde sat, calm even when Jackie knew that her touches- reaching up to play with his hair, rubbing a knuckle against the stubble on his chin- were making him shudder. In answer to her attention, he rubbed her back, or fiddled with a strand of her hair. Chaste did not describe his actions. He simply acted with affection, and she felt it.

“Steven?” 

“Hm?” he grunted. He tightened his arm around her. 

“Do you… do you think I’m pretty?” her voice cracked in the middle of her question. Jackie bit her lip, and when Hyde tipped his shades up to face her, she looked away. The question wasn’t posed out of vanity, not even insecurity that his attraction was fake. Something compelled Jackie for an answer though, and she wondered what Hyde would tell her, if he said anything at all. 

He took her face instead. With his ring fingers tenderly cupping her ears and his palms warming her cheeks, one calloused thumb bent to stroke her bottom lip. It forced Jackie to look Hyde in the eyes, where his irises prickled with a blue that reminded her of summer. She opened her mouth in mild surprise, and he traced a thumb nail deliberately along the inside of her upper lip. As if lulled by a dream, she leaned towards his face and his heat, and met-

“Hyde? Jackie? You two better not be frozen in there!” Red’s angry voice filled the cruiser as he wrenched the passenger door open, nostrils flaring with the promise of the hell intended for Eric. Jackie and Hyde jumped apart, Hyde finding solace in his shades once again and Jackie’s hands flying to her hair. 

“Oh Red, did you find them?” Kitty’s concerned warble was not far behind the more menacing of the Foremans. Pushing bashfully past Red, Jackie was met with a hug from a fiercely overjoyed Kitty. The older woman kissed Jackie on the head quickly before she moved on to Steven, whose face she pulled into her hands. Jackie had to hide a smile as Kitty fussed over Hyde, chiding his lack of proper winter boots and patting the warmth back into his cheeks, though they weren’t ruddy from the cold. 

Red gave her a hard look that helped sober her up, but it quickly softened and he patted her arm, relieved at their safety. 

\------

Once ushered into the car, Jackie and Hyde were gratefully fed two cups of soup each from the heavenly heated thermos Kitty brought along (Jackie didn’t even care if she was on a diet, she vowed to never turn down soup after a day like this). Hyde and Jackie sat in silence in the backseat and listened to Kitty and Red talk about proper reparations for Eric’s foolhardiness. The two teens hadn’t dared look at each other since they started the drive to get Eric and Donna, both replaying the events of mere minutes ago in their heads. 

The road steadily dimmed as they drove onward, and only once they were safely encased in the winter dark did Jackie dare shoot a glance at Hyde. He was looking at her from the corner of his eye, saved from subtlety behind his shades. Jackie felt her cheeks flush and turned her head, but Hyde’s hand crept to hers and stroked her fingers. Even through her gloves, Jackie could feel their heat. She all but ripped her left glove off before slipping her fingers under Hyde’s. He squeezed. Warmth flooded her face, and she bit her lip. 

Hyde willed Jackie to look at him all through the car ride, keeping an ear open to Red and Kitty’s conversation so that he could answer when either of the Foremans prompted. He didn’t need Red angrier at them, although his ire was tempered with his genuine concern for the two of them.

However, his main concern was Jackie. She lapsed into her unnatural state of silence, large eyes glued to the window as the darkness rolled by. He could hardly admit to himself that he wanted to know what she was thinking. But he was desperate for her to understand that what started in the Vista Cruiser didn’t have to end there. If she’d have him. If this wasn’t some crazy side effect or dream that he’d wake up from.

It was only when she reached for his hand again that he relaxed. 

It seemed like hours, but the last leg of the trip was made. The radio station came into view, and Red’s wrath, once banked by the relief of his pseudo-children being safe, was a roaring inferno once more. He barely parked the car before he was raging with threats about a foot-in-the-ass and then some, and still steaming, jumped out to find Eric. Hyde shot Jackie a look when it was clear that Kitty would be chaperoning. She turned and shot both of them a slightly pained smile.

“Mrs. Foreman, will Red be able to get the Vista Cruiser working again?” Jackie asked innocently. 

“Oh I’m sure he will, dear. He has a friend near here that said he’ll pick it up as soon as it stops snowing. You know Red, he’s good with his hands!” Kitty laughed. 

“Gosh, Mrs. Foreman, I hope we didn’t get Eric into too much trouble,” Hyde began, leaning forward so he could see her better. “We only wanted to help.”

She smiled at Hyde, and reached a hand back to pat his knee. “I know, Steven. That’s why you’re a good friend. Even if it was foolish of you to drive off before a storm.”

“I only hope Red isn’t getting too heated in there. I hate to think of the things he’s mad enough to say, and so close to a live radio station where they can practically hear a pin drop,” Hyde continued casually.

Jackie’s eyebrows knitted together and she glanced at him. But when she saw Kitty visibly blanch, she chimed in. “Mrs. Foreman, you don’t think Red would yell at Eric while the Radio was accidentally on, do you? That’s how my dad ended up in prison!”

“You know… I think I better check on Red and Eric. You kids stay right here,” Kitty said as she hastily unbuckled her seat-belt. “Just a moment, you two! Red? RED!”

They watched the matronly woman rush hurriedly into the studio, before their eyes met again. 

“Thank god,” Hyde said with a small, yet undeniable smirk as he forced himself to recline against the seat, one arm thrown seemingly with abandon behind Jackie’s head. “I thought she’d never leave.”

Jackie tilted her head, a little shy of him despite their earlier escapade. But Hyde didn’t approach or retreat, and instead sat watching her as her jewel-dark eyes appraised him. 

“Something on your mind, Doll?” he asked, hoarse from the emotion welling in his throat. Hyde would not say he was in love. Love was beyond his sphere at the moment. But damn if he didn’t feel enough of something to wonder if he was destined to land somewhere close to it. And if Jackie taking his hand was any indication of her feelings, he would have plenty of opportunity to discover what it might be.

“Steven, you didn’t answer my question earlier,” Jackie stated, her lips twitching into a coy smile. “I really want to know what you were going to say about me.”

As if she’d flipped a switch, Hyde took her hand and pulled her against his side, tucking her there securely with his arm. With one hand clasping her shoulders, the other lifted to her face. She reached a hesitant hand forth and plucked the glasses off of his nose, and his blue eyes blinked softly down at her. Jackie’s heart felt like it was being crushed between her lungs and she inhaled as much as she was able to- she felt as though the wind were knocked out of her. She pressed her forehead to his, and they stared. 

“You’re beautiful, Jackie.”

Jackie’s fingers found their way to Hyde’s jawline. She rubbed her fingers up into his hair, letting her palms stroke against the roughness of his beard coming in. Hyde’s breath hitched quietly, and Jackie bit her lip. He could only focus on her, on her mouth and her eyes as they looked between him and his lips. Hyde bent forward, head tipping to the side just so. Jackie closed the inches that parted them with measured movements, pressing her lips to his. 

Hyde’s hand hooked behind Jackie’s head, cradling her to him as they kissed. It was so much different from the first one. The first, while it had sent up sparks in both, was merely a harbinger of the feelings to come. Jackie sighed heavily against Hyde, arms twining around his neck to bring him- heat, curls, and all closer to her. His mouth parted an instant, and Jackie did not miss the opportunity to tongue his chapped, full bottom lip between her teeth. Hyde inhaled sharply, and practically twisted around Jackie to hold her fully. His tongue coaxed its way past her lips, and she moaned into their kiss. 

Jackie leaned back, a hand coming to her lips in surprise. She wasn’t new to arousal, or to sex by any means. But what a world of difference there was between kissing someone she tolerated, and kissing someone who made her whole body feel like it was set aflame. 

“That good huh?” Hyde asked her with a crooked smile. He was toying with the ends of her hair again, eager to touch her, but only as she was ready.

“Do it again,” Jackie whispered, matching him with her own grin. Hyde’s large hands reached for her face.


End file.
